


Laws of the Universe

by feverbeats



Category: Sunshine (2007)
Genre: Angst, Canon - Movie, M/M, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-23
Updated: 2009-12-23
Packaged: 2017-10-05 02:55:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/37019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/feverbeats/pseuds/feverbeats
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Capa takes a normal, felt-tipped, Earth pen and writes Ἴκαρος on the back of his hand in large, blocky letters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Laws of the Universe

**Author's Note:**

  * For [noondreams](https://archiveofourown.org/users/noondreams/gifts).



_For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction_. That's Newton. That's basic.

For every time Capa fumbles a social nicety by accident, Mace clenches his fists exactly hard enough in response.

For every night Capa spends scrawling equations on e-paper, Mace spends just as many hours watching people he has never met and never will in the Earth room.

For every time Capa tells Mace to get out of his personal space . . .

Mace runs one large hand down Capa's back, bunching the thin fabric of Capa's shirt. Capa can feel his spine under Mace's hand and wonders if this is what it takes for him to feel present. Each time Mace breaks away, messy and human and sometimes even smiling, Capa feels more and more like a piece of space debris, junk lost in someone else's transit.

Mace kisses Capa until Capa pushes him away, his hand resting against Mace's chest, momentum put on pause. "Give me some space," he says distantly.

Mace laughs. "Space. That's a good one. It's all around us."

Capa offers a half smile in return. _Good one_.

He spent his whole childhood watching the stars, and now that he's out there among them, he can't stop. The Sun is just a more familiar star.

When he shuts his eyes, there are bright points of light behind them, and he reminds himself of the endless college classes that taught him exactly how and why this happens: it's called a phosphene and it's most often caused by rubbing your eyes and creating enough pressure to see phantom lights. Newton described that, too.

Of course, he's also been seeing lights with his eyes wide open, lately. He does not tell Mace this, nor any of the others. The crew is operating in a vacuum in more ways that one.

There are a lot of things astrophysics doesn't cover, but Capa learned things on his own, anyway. When he was younger, he read a lot of the old legends from times and cultures that no one really respects anymore. He knows all the fairy tales and myths and urban legends, useless information piling up behind his light-blinded eyes.

And so of course he knows that the name of the ship is a huge mistake. He wonders if maybe astronauts don't take Greek mythology courses.

That's basic, too. That's hubris.

Capa takes a normal, felt-tipped, Earth pen and writes Ἴκαρος on the back of his hand in large, blocky letters.

He also starts writing down the few facts he knows for certain: the average distance from Earth to the Sun is ninety-three million miles. It takes eight minutes for the light from the Sun to reach Earth. For each of those minutes there is a human on their ship, spinning out.

Capa spun out ages ago, but he's still going through the motions out of some sort of horrified fascination.

It's interesting that everyone thinks Mace is the one who needs to be watched. Out of all of them, Mace is probably the most stable, or at least the most human. That's got to count for something, out here. Being angry and making jokes are the only things they have left, and Mace is good at both of them.

No one understands Capa's jokes, so he's stopped trying. Now he just sits and spins, waiting for something to come along to rock him.

Newton has other laws, as well:

_A object in motion tends to remain in motion_.

Mace is an outside force if there ever was one, and Capa often wonders who cleared him for this mission, anyway. He's far from a moral compass, and he's not very good at science. Capa doubts anyone had the foresight to predict their need for the human element Mace provides.

Newton also has a law that talks about mass, acceleration, and force. All three are against the _Icarus II_. Capa is trying so hard not to get distracted thinking about their chances, but he can't. As far as they know, the _Icarus I_ probably caught fire and burned, and physics and mythology promise the same will happen to them. There's no fighting the weight of so much history.

"Hey," Mace says.

Capa doesn't know how many times he's said it. "Hm?"

Mace is sitting on the edge of the bed, watching Capa with irritation. Irritation is good. Irritation is grounding. Out here, there's no natural gravity. "Capa, are you in there?"

Capa wants to promise that he is, unlike half the rest of the crew, but he's so tired and worn down. "Sure," he says, and his voice comes out scratchy.

"Yeah, I can tell," Mace shoots back, unconcerned.

At least someone's unconcerned.

Capa lays a hand on Mace's arm. "We've got work to do."

"Not right now." Mace reaches up and squeezes Capa's wrist a little too hard. His hand is warm. "It's like Searle says all the time. If we don't take some time out to have fun, we'll start going nuts in here."

Capa wants to say something about it being far too late or Searle not being one to talk, but the words get tangled on his tongue with all the equations of his work and the sharp letters of the Greek he's been teaching himself.

Mace takes his silence as agreement, either because it's easy or because he knows Capa isn't very good at communicating. This time the kiss is even less gentle than usual, almost as though Mace is trying to stir Capa up after a long space of inaction. _An object at rest tends to remain at rest_.

Capa turns his head away, drifting back to immobility, even as Mace undresses him. Tacit understandings are all right, even if Capa is pretty sure Mace does not and never will understand him.

Mace kisses Capa's hip, and Capa gasps. Action and reaction.

Beyond the basic, beyond the Newtonian, the crew of the _Icarus II_ is free-floating despite all their engine power. At the intersection of physics and mythology, Capa lets Mace kiss him again and wonders how long they can keep this up.


End file.
